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Solution - Finding the roots of polynomials

(x+2)(x+1)(x4)
(x+2)*(x+1)*(x-4)

Step by Step Solution

Reformatting the input :

Changes made to your input should not affect the solution:

 (1): "x2"   was replaced by   "x^2".  1 more similar replacement(s).

Step  1  :

Checking for a perfect cube :

 1.1    x3-x2-10x-8  is not a perfect cube

Trying to factor by pulling out :

 1.2      Factoring:  x3-x2-10x-8 

Thoughtfully split the expression at hand into groups, each group having two terms :

Group 1:  -10x-8 
Group 2:  x3-x2 

Pull out from each group separately :

Group 1:   (5x+4) • (-2)
Group 2:   (x-1) • (x2)

Bad news !! Factoring by pulling out fails :

The groups have no common factor and can not be added up to form a multiplication.

Polynomial Roots Calculator :

 1.3    Find roots (zeroes) of :       F(x) = x3-x2-10x-8
Polynomial Roots Calculator is a set of methods aimed at finding values of  x  for which   F(x)=0  

Rational Roots Test is one of the above mentioned tools. It would only find Rational Roots that is numbers  x  which can be expressed as the quotient of two integers

The Rational Root Theorem states that if a polynomial zeroes for a rational number  P/Q   then  P  is a factor of the Trailing Constant and  Q  is a factor of the Leading Coefficient

In this case, the Leading Coefficient is  1  and the Trailing Constant is  -8.

 
The factor(s) are:

of the Leading Coefficient :  1
 
of the Trailing Constant :  1 ,2 ,4 ,8

 
Let us test ....

  P  Q  P/Q  F(P/Q)   Divisor
     -1     1      -1.00      0.00    x+1 
     -2     1      -2.00      0.00    x+2 
     -4     1      -4.00      -48.00   
     -8     1      -8.00      -504.00   
     1     1      1.00      -18.00   
     2     1      2.00      -24.00   
     4     1      4.00      0.00    x-4 
     8     1      8.00      360.00   


The Factor Theorem states that if P/Q is root of a polynomial then this polynomial can be divided by q*x-p Note that q and p originate from P/Q reduced to its lowest terms

In our case this means that
   x3-x2-10x-8 
can be divided by 3 different polynomials,including by  x-4 

Polynomial Long Division :

 1.4    Polynomial Long Division
Dividing :  x3-x2-10x-8 
                              ("Dividend")
By         :    x-4    ("Divisor")

dividend  x3 - x2 - 10x - 8 
- divisor * x2   x3 - 4x2     
remainder    3x2 - 10x - 8 
- divisor * 3x1     3x2 - 12x   
remainder      2x - 8 
- divisor * 2x0       2x - 8 
remainder       0

Quotient :  x2+3x+2  Remainder:  0 

Trying to factor by splitting the middle term

 1.5     Factoring  x2+3x+2 

The first term is,  x2  its coefficient is  1 .
The middle term is,  +3x  its coefficient is  3 .
The last term, "the constant", is  +2 

Step-1 : Multiply the coefficient of the first term by the constant   1 • 2 = 2 

Step-2 : Find two factors of  2  whose sum equals the coefficient of the middle term, which is   3 .

     -2   +   -1   =   -3
     -1   +   -2   =   -3
     1   +   2   =   3   That's it


Step-3 : Rewrite the polynomial splitting the middle term using the two factors found in step 2 above,  1  and  2 
                     x2 + 1x + 2x + 2

Step-4 : Add up the first 2 terms, pulling out like factors :
                    x • (x+1)
              Add up the last 2 terms, pulling out common factors :
                    2 • (x+1)
Step-5 : Add up the four terms of step 4 :
                    (x+2)  •  (x+1)
             Which is the desired factorization

Final result :

  (x + 2) • (x + 1) • (x - 4)

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